Ground was broken Monday on the East side of White Gravenor for a small pond stocked with fish, flowers, shrubbery and benches dedicated to David Shick. The memorial is scheduled to be finished and dedicated on Oct. 14, which would have been Shick’s 21st brithday.

Last February, Shick, 20, died following an altercation in the Lauinger Library parking lot between two groups of students returning from Champion’s, a local bar. Both groups of students had been drinking.

“The idea started as Dave’s girlfriend’s, and then was taken up by all his friends,” Joe Matteo (SFS ’01), one of Shick’s roommates last year, said.

“We’re going to try to celebrate and remember,” Deborah Shick, David’s mother, said. Mrs. Shick also said the family will be present for the dedication.

The dedication will consist of a small service of singing and prayers, according to GUSA president Tawan Davis (COL ’01).

“It will be a service of reflection and remembrance,” Davis said.

The memorial will be funded by donations from friends, family and student giving. The university has agreed to pay for any remaining costs not met by donations.

The total cost for the memorial has fluctuated between $14,000 and $16,000, Davis said.

“The administration has been very helpful,” Matteo said. “Everyone’s been very excited about the project.”

Davis is confident in the memorial’s success. “It really seems like it will happen,” Davis said. “The university is committed, and there are students standing behind the project who won’t let the university back out.”

Davis also said that Friends of David Shick looking for donations to help with the memorial.

“Anything can help,” Davis said. “Even $5 to $20 . that constitutes a sizable donation.”

The memorial’s private contractor also designed the pond memorial on the path by Kehoe Field from the Leavey Center to the medical school.

“It will be a beautiful space next to White Gravenor,” Davis said. “It will really become an elevated ground for reflection.”

During the fray in the parking lot Shick was punched, fell and hit his head on the ground, resulting in his death four days later at the Georgetown University Medical Center. The district medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.

In June, U.S. Attorney Wilma A. Lewis declined to press charges against the individuals involved in the incident, citing Department of Justice policy under which indictments are pursued only if there was a likelihood of conviction. Lewis hinted that Shick’s role in the fight would have limited that likelihood.

Following the U.S. Attorney’s decision not to pursue an indictment, Georgetown resumed its disciplinary inquiry, which was completed in August. The hearing lasted for 17 hours and included testimony from individuals involved on both sides of the fight. The results of the inquiry have not been made public in accordance with the university’s Student Code of Conduct. In August, Director of Student Conduct Judy Johnson said that “only those who need to know will be told” the results.